LANSING - As they clear the rubble from the 2008 election, Michigan Republicans are vowing to rebuild their party from the ground up through local organizing and a persuasive 2010 message that their policies can turn the state around.

About 1,000 GOP convention delegates Saturday elected Ann Arbor businessman and party activist Ron Weiser as the new party chairman. Weiser, who ran unopposed, pledged to reconstruct the party's organization, and image, through local party building.

Ron Weiser

said the Michigan GOP can rebound by convincing independent voters deeply frustrated by economic decline that Republicans will succeed where Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Democrats haven't.

"We will have a vision and a strategy to turn around the economy in Michigan," said the 63-year-old former U.S. ambassador to Slovakia. "We're not asking (independent voters) to become Republicans, we're asking them to vote Republican.

"We have to talk about the future of Michigan" and promote a "strategy for transformational change" that leads to business growth and job creation, he said.

The GOP last November was routed in a state that appears to be turning a darker shade of blue. Barack Obama carried counties once reliably Republican and scored huge margins in key swing counties like Oakland. Republicans lost two seats in Congress, nine seats in the state House and a conservative majority on the Michigan Supreme Court.

One reason for the slide is that fewer Michigan voters identify themselves as Republicans, 34 percent in 2008 versus 44 percent in 2002, according to Gallup. In a test of generic ballot strength, Republican candidates for the state Board of Education captured 46 percent of the vote in 2002. In 2008, it was 38 percent.

The stakes for the party in 2010 are huge given that the victors will draw a new political map in 2011 that could determine its electoral strength for a decade. Given their 67-43 majority, Democrats are likely to retain control of the House next year. With 18 of 21 Republican senators being forced out because of term limits, a chamber the GOP has held for a quarter century will be up for grabs.

Democrats on Saturday re-elected as their party chairman Mark Brewer, who has had unprecedented success in statewide elections this decade.

But Granholm is term-limited as well and Republicans say Lt. Gov. John Cherry of Clio, if he's the Democratic nominee, will be held accountable for the worst state economy in the country.

Cherry Saturday said the GOP keeps singing the same old tune instead of rethinking their failed policies.

"Tax cuts never built a bridge. Tax cuts never fixed a pothole. Tax cuts never hired a teacher or put a cop on the street," he said. "This isn't rocket science. It's common sense."

Other Democrats planning to run for governor are state Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem Township, and former state Rep. John Freeman. Democrats mentioned as potential candidates include state House Speaker Andy Dillon, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel and former Michigan State University football coach George Perles.

Attorney General Mike Cox, who has formed an exploratory committee for governor, roused the GOP convention by directly criticizing Granholm and Cherry for raising taxes, failing to stem job loss and burdening business with excessive regulation.

Republicans, he said, hadn't "been half as tough on her as she has been on Michigan."

Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, has also formed an exploratory committee.

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, said Saturday he'd make a decision whether to run by the end of March.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact Peter Luke at (517) 487-8888 or e-mail him at pluke@boothnewspapers.com.